The Houthi rebels announced on Wednesday the release of the crew of the Galaxy Leader ship, which was detained on November 19, 2023.
Galaxy Leader car carrier and its 25 crew members have been held hostage by the Houthis who stormed the ship via helicopter ushering in a period of time that became known as the Red Sea shipping crisis with more than 100 vessels attacked by the Houthis, ostensibly in support of Hamas.
The Houthi rebels Red Sea operation caused a huge re-routing of much of the global merchant fleet from the red sea around Africa, costing the global economy $175bn per year, according to recent estimates from The Economist magazine.
However, experts suggest, this development likely won´t be enough to encourage global firms to reenter the route that´s crucial for cargo and energy shipments moving between Asia and Europe. Their attacks have halved traffic through the region, cutting deeply into revenues for Egypt, which runs the Suez Canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.